In order for a traditional brand not to be considered outdated, social media discourse and uproar are needed. Jaguar has easily managed this: With an unconventional teaser video and finally with the unveiling of the Type 00 last December at Miami Art Week. We took a look at the whole thing on site. Between the beach, art, party and the new Jaguar in flesh and blood – or pink steel and electric drive – we were able to get up close and personal with Gerry McGovern, Chief Creative Officer of Jaguar.
Christmas is just around the corner and the sun is blazing down from the sky. Everything is loud and colorful, everyone is in a party mood. But no one is waiting for presents, they are waiting for the unveiling of a new car. What sounds like a feverish dream was a reality in December, when car fanatics, it-girls, finance bros and, yes, above all art lovers made the pilgrimage to Florida for Miami Art Week.
Two weeks before the art escapade in the Sunshine State, a video caused a stir: attractive people, colorfully mixed and genderfluid, pose in front of a colorful background reminiscent of AI fabrications. Slogans such as “copy nothing”, “break molds” and “live vivid” flicker across the screen. A fashion film? The final project of an art student? A generated vision of the future of our society? All wrong – it was the radical rebranding of Jaguar. Is the British classic having a midlife crisis? More like a late-life crisis, as it is already approaching its nineties. The internet thought so too: Countless memes immediately flooded the social networks.
The fact that there is no car in the movie is a minor matter. “I don’t want to show a car now. We are rebuilding the brand from the ground up. The car will come,” explains Gerry McGovern – Chief Creative Officer of Jaguar and the brains behind the Type 00. On 2. December, the car finally arrived. Hours after the first leaked photos circulated on the Internet, the Type 00 was unveiled.
In the weeks between the mysterious video and the reveal, Jaguar achieved what all brands want: Be the number one topic. There was lively discussion online, from amusing videos to detailed economic analyses. Even those who weren’t necessarily allowed to write car expert on their CV suddenly had an opinion. From November 2024, everyone was suddenly interested in the fact that the traditional British company was now changing its logo and turning its entire marketing strategy on its head
A leap(er) into the future
After the video, which many a dramatic car fan berated as woke – “what about tradition, so-called heritage?” – was followed by Miami Art Week. Why does the Brit want to position himself where art is concerned? It’s simple: that’s where the potential customers of the new Jaguar era hang out. “Young, creative, artistic, unique, perhaps a creative financial type,” is how Gerry McGovern describes the ideal future owner of the new Jaguar. “The kind of people who go to Miami Art Week. That’s why we’re here,” he adds. In fact, there is a diverse group in paradisiacal Miami. Young and old, press and influencers, models and suppliers all want to take a look at the new Jaguar.
This one is very pink. Barbie would love it. Ken might love it even more. For the fact that car connoisseurs usually only have a weary eye roll for those who judge cars by color, the Barbie pink – officially named “Miami Pink” by Jaguar – is passionately discussed. Hypermasculine car men who started to hyperventilate at the sight can calm down – the model is also available in blue, called “London Blue”.
The first zero in the name stands for zero local emissions, the second for the status as the zero car of a completely new model family. In fact, the corners and edges have little to do with the curves familiar from Jaguar. But the big cat remains: The Jaguar emblem – called the “Leaper” – is laser-cut into a handcrafted brass block on each side of the vehicle. “So from now on, the Leaper moves forwards,” says McGovern. Just like the brand does. Further technical data is still scarce, but this is an art fair after all. The Type 00 is just a concept car – a work of art, a vision whose official production is still in the future. The vehicle is around five meters long and has an electric drive. Jaguar not only sees itself exclusively in the top luxury segment in the future, but is also fully committed to the electric route. The car should be able to travel around 770 kilometers; with 15 minutes of charging time, you should already have 321 kilometers to spare.
However, the slogan “copy nothing”, proclaimed by founder Sir William Lyons, refers less to these facts than to the unusual appearance. Gerry McGovern also quotes the slogan like a mantra. How do you design a car without copying something? “Some brands want to replicate their original DNA,” explains McGovern, “but for us it was more about emotion, about the essence”. The Jaguars from the past were also considered modern and unusual at the time, he adds. So away with the nostalgia and into the pink future: “We’ve looked back too much in the last 20 years,” says McGovern.
Of course, he was aware of the reactions and criticism – they were also part of the plan. “Creativity has always brought criticism,” says McGovern, citing greats such as David Bowie, Alexander McQueen and Jackson Pollock as examples. And now Gerry McGovern has joined the ranks with his pink Jaguar.
As popular as Marmite
But there must be a touch of economic calculation in the parade. After all, they want to lift themselves out of the impending misery. McGovern, who also redesigned the Range Rover, describes it as follows: “The brand is returning to what it does best: being unique. That’s what it was about in its heyday, but then strategy and mainstream got in the way,” he adds. Strategy still plays a relevant role, but the car manufacturer seems to have done away with the mainstream. “We don’t want to be loved by everyone,” McGovern emphasizes. “It’s quite simple: we’re like Marmite,” he says, creating the perfect analogy. The sticky, salty spread is either loved or loathed – reactions that the sweet-pink, boxy Jaguar also tickles out of everyone.
However, Marmite or, in this case, Jaguar lovers will have to wait a little longer before they can treat themselves to the car. According to industry insiders, Jaguar can’t really afford not to sell anything for a year. And yet you won’t be able to get the Type 00 into your garage for another year. The four-door GT will be unveiled at the end of 2025, and you’ll be able to take a spin in it at the beginning of 2026. In an age in which our attention span has plummeted to a depressing eight seconds, it seems reckless not to start sales until 2026. Gerry McGovern takes it in his stride: “There’s a saying that if you don’t listen to your customers, you won’t go broke, but if you listen to them too much.” Patience is part of the luxury business, as some customers wait years for a Birkin bag. “People don’t need luxury, they want it,” says McGovern. It is therefore fitting that new brand stores will be opening in the coming months, where customers can experience the brave new Jaguar world for themselves. The first of these will open in the heart of Paris’ luxury fashion district, the “Golden Triangle” in the eighth arrondissement. “It’s about emotions. We can design an efficient, sustainable car, but we want to be more than that. We want to elicit a ‘wow’ from people.” Finally, we want to know how McGovern would describe Jaguar in three words. With a lot of digression, he comes up with the following: “Brave”, “fearless”, “copy nothing”. Strictly speaking, that’s four words, but we’ll let it stand.
Jaguar Type 00
Everything is new… Jaguar. New logo, new car. Electric, of course, daring, modernist, pink or even blue – that’s the Type 00. But first there’s a break. At the end of 2025, the first real model is to be presented as a four-door GT and from 2026, all those who like to stand out will be able to really step on the gas, er, electric, with the pink wonder on the roads.
Gerry McGovern
You can’t reinvent the wheel, but you can reinvent the car. That’s what Gerry McGovern has been doing for four decades. He made his first attempts at Chrysler. McGovern is now Chief Creative Officer at Jaguar. The MG F and the Land Rover Freelander – and, of course, the Jaguar Type 00 – are the product of his imagination.
You can find out more about Jaguar’s pink vision of the future here.
Car fans watch out: In St. Moritz, a number of vehicles raced through the snow.
Photos: © Jaguar
